Interview with Carleigh Hofman - Sea to Sky Whistler REALTOR® - Engel & Volkers Whistler

Hey, Matt Parker here. Super excited. Grateful to have Carly Hoffman with me. Carly, how are you today?

I'm great, how are you?

Thank you. Oh, my pleasure. You know it's. Thanks for taking time out of your, your crazy schedule. I know it's been, you know, it's been a crazy year and you know, we really appreciate getting your insight. Carly is sort of high level, top performing agent in sort of sea to sky area, Whistler, Squamish, those, those specific areas. So she's gonna have a lot of insight and, and expertise for us which, which is going to be awesome. So thank you again, Carly. To start off I like to just sort of have a fun question is what, what's one thing that not many people know about you?

Oh, I think the main thing that many people don't know is I was competitive figure skater for about 17 years prior to getting into the business world. So I guess that's one thing. I don't talk about that often but that was a big portion of my life for sure.

It must have been a lot of your life for a long time.

It's a lot of work and dedication for sure for that sport.

That's kind of cool because that probably correlates a lot to, to what you do today, which is a lot of hard work, dedication and consistency. You know, showing up and doing it every day and keep moving forward.

Don't let failure get in the way of keep moving forward. So it's one of those sports but we loved it so.

Well, wonderful. Thank you for, thank you for sharing.

No worries.

How did you. So then fast forward. So how did you get into real estate? I always find it interesting just sort of how you find your way.

Yeah. So I was, I mean I went to high school, university kind of went down that path. But part of my university was to do an internship and I actually ended up in the mining world, finance mining for several years which was extremely interesting and I got to travel the whole world and how I ended up there is just kind of a fluke. I mean my family's kind of in that business too. But yeah, it just led me down that path which was incredible. I learned so much about business. It's actually very correlated to sales and real estate as well. Just because, you know, I'm, I was selling kind of an intangible investment idea rather than a tangible home. But I can attest that part of my life to learning basically everything I know about business. But the travel kind of. I was young and I was traveling probably, I mean half of every Month. So half my year was spent overseas. London. I got to see the whole world, which was absolutely incredible. But I got to a point where I just kind of looked at the future of my life and what. What the next step was in that. And I just kind of felt that I would probably have to move away from Vancouver. And the next step was just a bit too much of a step at my age to kind of bridge that gap.

So.

I'd always had a passion for real estate. It's kind of fascinating, me and interior design and all that. And I actually had ordered my course two years prior, but I never actually finished it. So I got this notification one day when I was having a bad day. Just, you know, it was like, you have two months to complete your license, otherwise you have paper it all over again. And I. It was literally that day I just walked into my boss's office and I was like. And he's like, are you sure? Like, stay in the business? And I was just like, I think I just need a change. And I actually quit my job before I. I had my license, and I just hammered down for two and a half months, wrote my license, and that's the decision I ever made.

That's so cool. You know, I think, you know, especially in, like, in the industry, it's like, you gotta go all in. And you did, you know, it's like, no, done. I'm moving on.

Well, I always knew I could, you know, like, if I absolutely hated it or it wasn't right for me. Like, it's, you know, mining is such a big industry, and I had made so many great contacts and everyone was, you know, I had, like, the best network of people that I got to work around, and I knew that there would be future opportunity if I ever want to go back.

So I just find it so fun to just learn how. How everyone gets into it. Because, like, for me, I just grew up around the mortgage world. My parents had a mortgage company.

Yeah.

I was like, oh, that's kind of fun, like. And I just sort of helped in the office as a teenager and then just sort of transitioned in. So kind of like the easy path, I guess, right. For me. But that's a. That's a fun story. Thanks. That's cool. What do you. So, you know, you do. You've been doing this for a long time. Very good at it. What do you love about it?

I think the thing I love the most is probably the same answer as many others in our industry. It's just your clients trust you with everything like, they basically bring you into their fold, and you become. In many, many instances, I feel like I'm part of their family. And you work with these people, and it goes beyond the transaction. Like, you know, you're. We still have conversations weeks, months, years later. They're happy in their home. They're not going anywhere. But you check in on their family and their kids, and you get so intimately connected to them because they do trust you with pretty much their biggest asset. So I think that's my favorite part is just the people that it's brought into my life and the trust that they give you, it's just a really. They become friends, they become part of your family. So, yeah, it's a very special industry in that regard. Not every transaction is easy, and there's, you know, every transaction has its difficult points. There's not a single one. So. But you go through that together and, you know, usually come out on the other side closer than when you started. And it's just. It's a nice feeling.

Yeah. And, you know, it's nice that you take that approach of, like, relationship cater to the client. You know, really just sort of help them through the journey because, you know, there are people that don't do that, and they do look at it. Just. It's a transaction. Right. So that's that relationship. And that connection is. Is really special. And I can tell that you, you know, enjoy it and. And thrive in it too, which is. Which is really nice.

Yeah. Yeah.

So I think you might answer this already, but maybe there's another answer with interior design or something. But if you weren't. If you weren't doing real estate, anything else entice you that you think you would be doing?

I think I'd be a designer architect, or I'd go back into my finance mining world. But I think I've built so much confidence in running my own business now that if I went back to that industry, I'd be in a completely different place to be able to tackle it in a different way. I was just young, and there wasn't the next step for me. I was too young to make happen. So, yeah, my life's changed so much since running my own business and my confidence and all of that. So I feel like I'd either go back. Back to that industry, or I'd definitely end up in interior design, which, you know, I might actually bring in a section of my business into decor and design. So we'll see in the future years.

If you have the skill, if you.

Have to do it both.

Yeah, you know, it's been, I mean, 20, 20, obviously weird year and then this 20. And in terms of affecting real estate, like we've seen a lot of transition. You know, we've seen, we've seen people moving like, oh, let's relocate from, let's say Vancouver to a Squamish or a Whistler or somewhere else. So a lot of that and then maybe a lot of the foreign, foreign buyer market, not as active as maybe we saw in the past, but then a very, very, very strong market because of the fact that what we've seen is just low inventory, low rates, all these different sort of things coming together. But you know, we know that it's hard for buyers, especially out there right now with, with lower inventory. But any advice that you can provide potential buyers or sellers on the current market in your areas of, of what you would say is, you know, something that would help them at this time.

Yeah. Talk to Matt Parker before you enter the market or someone like him. You need to be ready. It's not easy out there, but I mean with the right team behind you and having your mortgage set up and your ducks in a row and having good Realtor on your side, you definitely can tackle the market. I've had lots of success in this market and I think in any market there's opportunity. I've also been able to do a lot of off market sales in this time too. So, you know, having the right realtor who's got the connections and hears about things before they maybe hit the market, you know, that all those things matter.

But yeah, so that is a thing that, you know, that what we see on Million Dollar listing that, you know, behind the scenes negotiations. So. Because it does happen and, and things happen. Yeah, yeah. And having those connections and those relationships so important.

Yeah, you gotta have relationships with other Realtors. Like it's very important part of this business. Like we're all, you know, it can be misleading because we're all competitors at the end of the day, but we all have to work together, you know, to bring our clients together and to make transactions happen to us so that our clients are happy. So yeah, you catch wind of stuff or you hear someone on the phone in the office talking about what they're bringing on and you just. What is that?

Let me in, let me in. Yeah.

So, you know, we sometimes get lucky that way, but I feel for the most part it's just, you really have to just be ready. And you know, there might be a time when this isn't the Case. But I just think the demand right now to live in our beautiful cities and towns are, you know, we live in a very beautiful part of the world and especially Whistler and Squamish, it's people are able to not be. Have to be in city cores anymore. So a lot of them are choosing to live in a place where they have a really incredible lifestyle and I mean, what better places than either those two places?

So true.

Yeah. I mean, I sold in Vancouver before I moved to Squamish and Whistler and restarted my career over again up there and it's busier than I even ever was in Vancouver.

Wonderful. Yeah. I think you highlighted a very important thing that we talk about is plan. You know, it's like, I call it like mortgage success path. It's like you need to have this sort of preparation which I think a lot of, A lot of people just like to jump to the exciting part which is, oh, I want to go look at homes, I want to get into that part of it. Not the let's plan for it. Because you can avoid so many of those frustrations and challenges if we do right and get the finances in order, just sort of know the budget, know what you want to pay, you know, not just what I can afford, that kind of stuff too. So. Yeah, that's a, that's a great point. Yeah, wonderful. I mean, in terms of, you know, the amount the properties that you've sold or been a part of on the buying process or just a transaction or just sort of a transaction that stands out to you. Is there a memorable experience that you've had over the years?

I mean, they're all pretty memorable in their way. Some good, some bad, some standards stick with you because they're very difficult. I'd say actually two this past year for very different reasons have been the most memorable one being just incredible. But one of my clients donated funds to the house Elm Women's Society for them to be able to buy a second stage home for a woman in need. The problem with Whistler is it's expensive and you know, the house down Women's society does incredible work, but they have a shortage of accommodation for the amount of people that are women that are in need. So actually he caught wind of this via our newspapers called the Whistler Peak magazine and they were basically saying, you know, discussing their year and that they had a shortage of homes and he kindly donated or his family did the funds to be able to purchase a home. And I got brought in as the realtor for that and Then subsequently was able to donate my commissions back to it as well for them to put towards furniture and stuff. So that one was just like everyone, the whole team is just like working alongside. That was just a very incredible experience. And seeing now a mother and her two children living in that place, place during a market that we're into that to have had that luck to be able to get into the market that we're currently in. Just feel good all around. So that was a big one. And then actually most recently I had my biggest sale to date, which was one of the most beautiful homes I've ever seen or stepped foot into. I had a $16 million sale this last couple months. So that was big for my career. Yeah, it was an absolutely stunning home. And again, really, really good people that were my clients and are good friends and you know, to have, you know, I haven't had them, I've had experience in the industry, but I'm not a 30 year veteran. So for them to trust me with their transaction of that size, they just, you know, basically picked me because they knew that I would go out and find them what they needed and we became friends and they're just really awesome people. So yeah, it's just, it's a really cool opportunity to be able to get given that because usually the 30 year vets usually get those bigger ones, you know, so big step in my career for sure.

There's some beautiful little hidden pockets up in Worcester like Cayden Wood and all these other areas that you've probably seen. Some really special properties.

Yeah, some of the most luxurious real estate in Canada I've seen. It's just a really incredible place. And it's so hidden too. Like you kind of have to go looking for it a little bit. The big ones down in the lake and stuff, like you don't know they're there. They don't look like much in the street. Then you go into them and they're just spectacular properties. So, yeah, very lucky to work in that market.

Yeah, that's so cool. I talk to clients, I use the term house rich. I kind of like have fun with it where it's. I talk to clients a lot about tax deductibility, like Smith Maneuver, you know, being a Smith certified Smith Maneuver consultant and just really creating, you know, creating opportunity out of equity growth in the home, whether it's buying rental properties, you know, getting into the next larger property or whatever that looks like, or leverage, investing in the market, things like that.

Yeah.

What does, when I say house rich, what do you think of what comes.

To your mind, being very happy in your home. I think if you have a home, you're. That's an incredible accomplishment in this, in this world that we live in. So that's, you know, house rich is that. But also just being able to get in the market and then be able to, you know, leverage yourself up through the market, you know, like, it's the most special thing to me to be able to help someone into their first home and then grow with them. And you know, I'm helping people, you know, get into their first home as boyfriend, girlfriend, and then they get married and have a kid and then they move into the next home and then I'm helping their parents and, and helping their friends and their family. And you just kind of grow and grow within the market. And to me, I mean, if you're happy in your home, you're, you're definitely house rich. So there's.

You hit it. I mean it's like, well, look where we live, you know.

Yeah, grateful.

Grateful for that, number one. And then, you know, the fact that, you know, if you can have a property or have a house in this market, which, you know, is challenging, it's like that check that, you know, grateful number two. So. Yeah, and then that just. Yeah, that's really nice. I, I love that. In terms of where people can find you, is there a good spot like your website or what's the best contact information for you?

Yeah, so I mean I have a website that has live chat on it and it comes directly to me. Um, so carlyhoffman.com my name spelled weird. Really weird. So you might need to link that one. But I also am very active on Instagram. I kind of use that as my main marketing platform. Bit more of an introvert. So I'm not the girl at all the social networking events. You can't really find me at all the outing. So I'm more accessible by email, phone, Instagram, website, all of those avenues. So I thought all.

I thought all realtors were extroverts.

Yeah, I got told a few times that I wouldn't be a good realtor cause I am a homebody.

But know it's not true.

It's not true that yourself. There's other people like you out there.

So that quintessential, you know, character on a TV show isn't always an accurate portrayal.

Yeah, no, I'm definitely would not be. Not do well a million dollar listing in terms of being at the social engagements.

Yeah, he wouldn't, wouldn't be as good at tv.

A little more.

More enjoyable, though, I'm sure. Well, thank you, Carly. I appreciate it.

Thanks for having me on. It was. I'm sitting here actually, in Hawaii, so I have a little break from work, so I'll tell you what.

Taking time out of your trip? Yeah. That's so cool. And, you know, we're grateful for it and thank you for all your advice and your insight, and we appreciate it.

Yeah. Thank you so much for having me.